Is Cortana Naked in Halo?

Finally. An answer to the question that’s plagued Halo fans for years, is Cortana naked in Halo?

Based on the old eye test, it sure seems like everyone’s favourite AI from the Halo series turned Microsoft answer to Siri is totally nude. But now, we have incontrovertible proof that Cortana is indeed naked in Halo. Games Radar recently chatted with Halo franchise head Frank O’Connor and asked him about other A.I. constructs in the Halouniverse and why they wear virtual clothing while Cortana doesn’t appear to. In case you don’t remember, the artificial intelligence onboard the UNSC Infinity is dressed like a WWII pilot and we’ve seen other A.I. throughout the Halo franchise appear as a cowboy, wizard and British military officer.

O’Connor explains that Cortana’s decision to wear nothing but a “holographic body stocking,” stems from her origin and personality:

In Cortana’s case, because she’s illegally cloned from a real human brain, she’s a little bit different than other AIs.

One of the reasons she does it is to attract and demand attention. And she does it to put people off so they’re on their guard when they’re talking to her and that she has the upper hand in those conversations.

It’s kind of almost like the opposite of that nightmare you have where you go to school in the nude, and you’re terrified and embarrassed. She’s kind of projecting that back out to her audience and winning intellectual points as a result.

Ok. The first part of the explanation makes sense. Cortana was created from a copy of Dr. Catherine Halsey’s brain, so that explains why she’s different from the other, fully-clothed A.I. The idea that her “Is she nude or isn’t she?”-avatar would give her an intellectual advantage is pretty weak though. Wouldn’t Cortana have to deal with lonely soldiers leering at her, ignoring everything she has to say? That doesn’t seem like too much of an upper hand.

Regardless of the optics, we can finally put the the debate to rest. Cortana is practically nude in Halo and we don’t want 343 Industries to change a thing about her.